Sunni Dawson

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Travelling KL style…

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I spent the last week in Kuala Lumpur, or KL as its affectionately known to locals. I have to leave Thailand every 60 days for visa requirements. The inevitable conclusion to scoring a 1500 Baht airline ticket (about $30 USD) was being KL bound. The next few blogs will be about some of my experiences there.


Travelling in a new city always fills me with nervous excitement, so much fun to explore! My favourite way to explore a city is by foot. Second, train.


I like the trains in KL. They are airconditioned and clean. If you travel during the day you can usually get a seat. It is also easy to get where you want to go. This is apart from trying to work out which train company you need to use, gazing in bewilderment at the four company options and asking very friendly random strangers who in turn asked other incidental strangers, all working towards helping me answer my question.


The footpaths on the other hand are an entirely different

matter. Unless a person plays close attention to their steps it is very likely that one will trip over advantageous concrete, planks of wood, quick drops or tyres. Added to this is negotiating with motorbikes. Motorbikes freely use what footpaths exist, forcing passers by to jump a little too quickly out of the way.



Eavesdropping


It intrigued me that a couple of trains had two

carriages dedicated for woman only. Here are some of the signs for this. It makes me super happy that lesbianism is condoned in the carriages too.


Women from all backgrounds enforce this women only rule. One Chinese-Malaysian said to an Indian-Malaysian man slouched with his feet over the seat. 

‘This carriage is for women only.’

He ignored her. 

About 6 minutes later, he abruptly got up and moved to the front carriages. She went to his seat, slapped it several times, making humphing sounds before sitting down.

A little while later a Malay-Muslim women in a headscarf saw a man on a seat opposite her listening to music. She sat in the seat next to him, leaning over in a quiet voice,

‘Excuse me Sir, this carriage is for women only.’ Silence.

In the same gentle tone, ‘Excuse me Sir, this carriage is for women only.’

Gruffly he moved to a seat in front, then moved out of the carriage altogether.



Being included


A group of Indian-Malaysians sat around me in a carriage. Playful laughter, jeering, mobile checking ensued.

A little while later, a bespectacled girl made eye contact with me.

‘Hello. Where are you from?’

The dark haired princess to my right groaned. ‘I am sooo sorry.’

‘No, no, that’s totally ok. Hi. I’m from Australia. Are you from Kuala Lumpur?’

Nodding, ‘Yes’.

‘What’s your name?’ More groans from the princess beside me.

‘Sunny. Like a sunny day.’

‘Oohhh. That’s nice.’

‘What’s your name.’

She slumped, eyes shifting out the window, ‘Mathuram’

Tilting my head slightly more and smiling, ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I hoped you wouldn’t ask me my name!’

The other girls laughed.

‘Oh, why?’

‘I don’t like my name. I like Evelyn. Evelyn is a nice name.’

Smiling, ‘You could change your name.’

Princess to my right, ‘Yer, when she’s 18 and legally allowed to live on her own!’ More giggles.

‘What TV shows do you like?’

‘Well I don’t watch much TV. Ummm, but I recently bought  ‘Orange is the new black’.’

‘I haven’t heard of that show.’

‘I also bought Breaking Bad.’

‘Oh Breaking Bad. Have you seen it?’ 

‘No, not yet, but I’ve heard its good.’

‘Yes, it is. You should also watch ‘Americas Next Top Model.’

‘Oh, why?’

‘Umm, I don’t know’, pausing, ‘it is very interesting.’

The girls held out their hands to touch me goodbye, smiling, twittering as they exited the train.


My most treasured train sign


By far, my favourite sign in the monorail was the ‘no indecent behaviour’ signs:


Absolutely no kissing allowed. 


At least not between women and men.

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